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Microfinance In Neoliberal Times: The Experience Of An Egyptian Ngo, Sarah A. Tobin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are under immense pressure to adhere to the programs and methods put forth by external donors, particularly if the NGOs rely on the funding to sustain their own organizations. Those external donors that represent neoliberal ideologies and enforce neoliberal practices, particularly in the area of microfinance, maintain a power that most recipient NGOs cannot evade. This becomes a difficult position for the NGOs to navigate as they try to accomplish good work in their communities. This research project is a study into the experience of one NGO, the Egyptian Development Organization (EDO), as it implemented microfinance …

A Vascular Plant Inventory And Description Of The Twelve Plant Community Types Found In The University Of South Florida Ecological Research Area, Hillsborough County, Florida, Anne Candace Schmidt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The University of South Florida Ecological Research Area (USF Eco Area), located in west central Hillsborough County, is an approximately 306 hectare (756 acre) natural area on the Hillsborough River composed of twelve plant communities. While surrounded on three sides by urbanization, the USF Eco Area makes up the western most section of an extended natural corridor that runs approximately 88 kilometers (55 miles) east and north along the Hillsborough River. An inventory of the vascular flora and the associated ecological communities was developed to better assess the USF Eco Area for educational and research purposes as well as enhance …

Mental Health Policy And Services In Tampa, Florida, Shelly Yankovskyy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the summer of 2004 I interned with the Mental Health Association of Greater Tampa Bay (MHA), a local affiliate of the National Mental Health Association. My time spent with the MHA became a gateway into the world of mental health. In the course of fulfilling my duties, I developed a particular interest in understanding the services that are available to persons, especially adults seeking treatment/services for mental illness. Through the MHA I was introduced to a wide range of people who have some link to mental health services, including psychiatrists, therapists, policy makers, and lawyers. This thesis utilizes an …

Changes In The Perception And Sense Of Self Of Individuals With Aphasia: An Ethnographic Study, Erline Vieira Nakano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the perceived changes in identity and sense of self in individuals with aphasia. Seminal research using qualitative methods and personal narratives has been conducted in England regarding the experience of living with aphasia (see for instance Parr, Byng, Gilpin & Ireland, 1999; Parr, Duchan & Pound, 2003; Byng, Pound & Hewitt, 2004), but the use of such methodologies is still emergent in the United States. In addition, despite the great achievements of the disabilities movement in countries such as the U.S. and the U.K., individuals with aphasia have remained largely at the margins due to the …

Assessment Of Resource Selection Using Remote Sensing And Geographic Information Systems (Gis) For Two Vertebrates In Disparate Habitats: The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus) And The North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena Glacialis), Cherie A. Keller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a treatise on spatially-explicit resource selection on two very different vertebrate species. The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) is the most endangered large whales in the world. Ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement are impediments to recovery. The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is an imperiled species whose upland habitats are shrinking from urban and agricultural development. Determining spatial distribution of important resources is important for conservation strategies. Historical and modern thinking of habitat selection theory and analytical techniques are reviewed and applied to these species. Fine-scale resource selection of sea surface temperature …

African American Adult Education Professors: Perceptions Of Graduate Studies In Adult Education, Sharon Gatling Waldrum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide historical and philosophical information regarding the field of Adult Education from the perspective of 15 African Americans. This studys design utilized the findings from African-American Adult Educators (A-AAE) to add to the depth and breadth of information about Adult Education by engaging participants in reflective dialogue regarding the field and their experiences.

This qualitative design used semi-structured interviews to obtain information about the relationships among and influences of major professors and dissertation committees. The study included influences, direct and indirect, as well as influential authors, books, and publications. Adult Education was analyzed …

Investigating Affective Dimensions Of Whiteness In The Cultural Studies Writing Classroom: Toward A Critical, Feminist, Anti-Racist Pedagogy, Allison Brimmer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to help teachers understand the ways that affect is tied to the dominant ideology of white supremacy in contemporary U.S. society. It argues that affect—the complex confluence of feeling and judgment—is bound intricately to racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, etc. In this work I attempt to deconstruct the social construction of affect that fuels dominant white ideology— what some scholars call whiteness—in the context of white teachers and students in the cultural studies writing classroom. With the lofty yet ultimately empowering goal of effecting anti-racist change in the classroom and in the profession, I trace affective dimensions of …

Establishing A Farmers Market For A Low-Income Latino Community, Ann L. Bretnall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For the past decade, Florida’s Latino population has significantly increased and is now the third largest in the United States. The same trend has also occurred in Hillsborough County. Social and economic disparities are significant as Latinos earn less than non-Hispanic whites and many live in poverty. A major concern of this population is the lack of access to inexpensive fresh fruits and vegetables. Findings from prior research show that the diet of immigrants often change quickly upon their arrival to the United States, with an increased emphasis on fast food and soft drinks and a reduction in the consumption …

Hiv/Aids Workplace Interventions In South Africa And The United States, Joel Christian Reed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the private sector response to the human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and the United States (US) in multinational businesses and corporations. From an epidemiological perspective HIV/AIDS and its co infections cause acute and chronic illness in the workforce leading to programs and interventions of various complexity and effectiveness. Workforce HIV/AIDS epidemiology in South Africa and the US is reviewed and discussed. From a critical medical anthropology perspective multinational corporations are political and economic entities with immense resources and power over people, communities, and governments globally. …

Professional Wrestling, Embodied Morality, And Altered States Of Consciousness, Lawrence B. Mcbride

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Much of the scholarly work on professional wrestling is based on the assumption that beyond a simple mimicking of sporting combat, the wrestling show is a spectacle that constructs and interrelates socially situated, morally significant categories. In this thesis, I focus on wrestlers themselves, and treat wrestling as a traditional practice that guides how wrestlers relate to their bodies and how they interact with their audience. This project was carried out using ethnographic methods of observation and interviewing. While participant-observation of three independent wrestling promotions provided context, twelve semi-structured interviews carried out with wrestlers at the Florida Wrestleplex in St. …

“They Say That This Clinic Is For Migrants”: Cultural Sensitivity In A Rural Health Center, Nadine I. Ohlinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The growing number of minority populations living in the United States makes it mandatory that all health care organizations seek to be culturally sensitive. There is no consensus on the definition of the term cultural sensitivity. The goal of this thesis is to define what cultural sensitivity means in a rural health center, from the perspective of the staff as well as the Hispanic patient. Anthropological methods, such as participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and archival data analysis, show that the qualities that Hispanic patients value in a clinic are 1) attention, 2) availability of Spanish language, 3) financial assistance, 4) …

Experience And Inquiry In John Dewey’S Contextualism, Christopher C. Kirby

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper will focus on two elements, viz. experience and inquiry, which are central to John Deweys philosophy and their relation to the movement known as pragmatism. Although each of these concepts has received extensive treatment by other schools of thought, the pragmatists, and particularly Dewey, did much to redefine each in hopes of alleviating the tension between conflicting philosophical viewpoints. An explication of Deweys view on experience is the first step in understanding his application of the pragmatic method towards reconstructing philosophical thinking. Therefore, this paper will explore the meaning that Dewey gave to each and how that meaning …

Fantastic Visions: On The Necessity Of Feminist Utopian Narrative, Tracie Anne Welser

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Works of feminist utopian literature project longing for and predict political change while confronting current social inequities. Often, they effectively interrogate Western models of citizenship and the institutions which reify them, suggesting alternate models. Here, I define Western citizenship as determined by the maintenance of the nation-state through gendered social roles that restrict women to the private sphere and men to the public. This thesis asserts that feminist utopian literature, like politically conscious music, art, and other forms of feminist praxis, is a politically necessary component of feminist consciousness because it facilitates much-needed visions of a more equitable future for …

Two Models Of Consensus, Sudarsan Padmanabhan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation titled Two Models of Consensus is based on five arguments. 1. Consensus is asymmetrical. 2. Consensus is partial or limited unanimity. 3. Consensus and democracy do have a concomitant relation. 4. Consensus is not organic to political systems. 5. Consensus depends upon civil society, subsidiarity, and the dominant cultural paradigm of society.

In the first chapter titled "Historical Specificity of the Western Conception of Civil Society" I argue that concept of civil society evolved under certain conditions in a liberal democratic tradition such as shared social imaginaries. As an example of how diversity could lead to hypostatization of …

A Phylogenetic Approach For The Study Of Variation And Determination Of Population Affiliation Of Indigent Human Skeletal Remains, Hattie Bea Wetherington

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has played a major role in human population studies over the past decade due to its maternal inheritance and negligible recombination (Macaulay, 1999). The mtDNA control region has been the focus of these studies due to the highly polymorphic nature of this non-coding region. Forensic scientists also use mtDNA to help determine the identity of missing individuals when nuclear DNA is not present. However, when skeletal remains are unclaimed, identification becomes near impossible. Therefore, mtDNA can play a valuable role in identification in terms of population affiliation, especially in conjunction with morphological analysis.

The goals of this …

Developing An Anthropology Curriculum For High School: A Case Study From Durant High School, Hillsborough County, Florida, Kory Mcneil Bennett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has become increasingly apparent that anthropology has much to offer when it comes to educating our youth. This is true for all grade levels, kindergarten through senior level studies in high school. Here, this idea will be explored further by focusing on the students of Durant High School (DHS) of Plant City, Florida.

This project was designed to explore the idea of combining widely accepted pedagogical theories (Gardner 1983, 1993, 1999; Geraci 2000; Silver, Strong and Perini 1997) with anthropological theory and methods in order to devise effective curricula for high school archaeology and other anthropology courses. More essentially, …

Trade And Plunder Networks In The Second Seminole War In Florida, 1835-1842, Toni Carrier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Second Seminole War in Florida, 1835-1842, was a time of disruption and upheaval for all of those unfortunate enough to occupy the territory of Florida during the seven years of this protracted battle over Seminole removal to the West. Illicit trade was a major factor which enabled the Seminoles to resist removal for such an extended period. Illicit trade requires outside assistance. Documentary evidence suggests that such assistance was rendered by Spanish fishermen, English and American wreckers, slaves, free blacks, Native Americans and white American settlers. This thesis examines the evidence for plunder and illicit trade, and the possible …

Promotoras Of The U.S.-Mexico Border: An Ethnographic Study Of Culture Brokerage, Agency, And Community Development, Ricardo B. Contreras

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines promotoras from the U.S.-Mexico border. Promotoras are women who live in colonias throughout the border area and who are employed by service provider and community development organizations to do health-related outreach and education with colonia residents. The role of promotoras can be seen from the perspective of culture brokerage; that is, they are mediators between local communities and external actors such as service providers and agencies of the government. As culture brokers, promotoras facilitate the relationship among the local communities, and the system of services and outside resources. The study proposes a conceptual framework through which programs …

“Ethnographizing” Service-Learning: Creating Politically Engaged Anthropology, Wendy Ann Hathaway

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Service-Learning is a popular teaching method that is increasingly being adopted by institutions of higher learning throughout the nation and is enthusiastically promoted as a progressive method for mediating the alleged decline in civic responsibility and ameliorating subsequent social ills. Servicelearning courses are also seen as an answer to growing student disinterest by connecting students to “real world” experiences while simultaneously providing much needed community support in the face of receding social services in this “Post-Welfare” moment (Goode and Maskovsky 2001a).

Anthropological insights, born out of a liberal humanistic tradition, can be employed to critically examine this popular educational and …

Transforming Public Spaces Through Performance, Anthony G. Valentine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is study about how public spaces can be transformed through performance within them.

More specifically, this study involves two public venues: The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), Tampa, FL and The University of South Florida (USF), Tampa, FL in that within these public venues, not only do performances take place, but they transform the space they are performed in and the spaces in-between the public spaces into performance spaces.

The Articulate Remedies Of Dolores Lolita Rodriguez, Hyatt Kellim Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For eighty-six-year-old Tampa, Florida, native Dolores Lolita Rodriguez, yard decorating was more than just decoration; it was a form of therapy. Her yard was a massive assemblage of found objects arranged into a personalized visual vocabulary that involved honoring the deceased, her Spanish identity, and local spiritual practices. The yard also upheld a unique conception of beauty. Her creations were an articulation of, and remedy for, a life of tremendous loss. They were also the cause of her stroke and confinement to rehabilitation in November 2002.

Dolores property was visually cognate with a mode of yard decoration, called the African-American …

"No, We Don't Have Any T-Shirts": Identity In A (Self-Consciously) Consumerist Punk Subculture, William Force

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an ethnographic examination of a local punk subculture. Its focus is the processes of meaning construction and subcultural identity formation and maintenance. Through in-depth interviews and on-site observations, the meanings of punk emerge in acts of social co-construction. An empirical analysis of the ways by which individuals define and explore what is involved and valued in a punk identity provides insight into this subculture. The concept of punk as a social practice is investigated discursively through interviews and documented discussions. My goal is to uncover thematic ideas, beliefs, and values in these interactions that form a matrix …

Cuidate: Tourism, Drugs, Sex And Hiv Among Young People In Monteverde, Costa Rica, Andrea Lee Freidus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this thesis is to understand a community’s perceptions of the potential impact of tourism on the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS in Monteverde, Costa Rica. In particular, I examine the ways in which globalization and increased travel affect the overall health and behavioral patterns among young people from a community reliant on tourism. The impact of migration and population movement on the spread of infectious diseases has already been well documented. Moreover, there is a clear understanding of the impact of sex tourism on the spread of STIs. However, this project seeks to …

Prehistoric Human Subsistence Patterns In Northern Patagonia, Argentina: Isotopic Evidence For Reconstructing Diet, Scott Grammer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the isotopic signatures of human skeletal remains that were recovered from several sites along the coast and inland in the north-central Patagonian region of Argentina. Human skeletal remains, dating from 2500 BP through the early historic period, are examined to determine the relative significance of terrestrial and aquatic food resources and subsequently, the extent to which coastal food resources were exploited by indigenous Argentinians. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes contained within human bone collagen and apatite are measured quantitatively to determine the relative significance of marine and terrestrial foods. This study, one of the first isotopic studies of …

Service-Learning Literacies: Lessons Learned From Middle School Youth, Steven Michael Hart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The dominant ideology driving the current educational reform movement positions adolescents as deficient in basic literacy skills. To address this deficiency, the trend has been to implement high-stakes standardized literacy tests and increase accountability to schools for developing basic literacy skills. Opposing this Discourse of “deficient youth,” literacy researchers have moved to adolescents’ cultural spheres of life beyond school to discover that traditional structures for teaching literacy appear to have resulted in a growing dissonance between literacies that take place within schools and those employed by youth in their personal worlds.

This research was conducted to explore how adolescents constructed …

The Cost Of Professionalization: A Case Study Of Osteopathic Medicine In The United States, Rochelle Harris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the co-optation of the heterodox medical system of osteopathic medicine by the hegemonic medical system of biomedicine and its impact on the practice of osteopathic medicine in America. The study particularly explored students (n=20), practitioners (n=5), and faculty (n=5) regarding their views of osteopathic medicine. The process of professionalization of osteopathic medicine has caused DOs to become more akin to MDs, which may have led to an identity crisis within the profession. This case study took place at a private osteopathic medical school in the Southeastern U.S. A content analysis of the …

The Tampa Heights Greenprinting Initiative: An Attempt At Community Building Through Park Revitalization, Maya Marie Harper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I discuss the Tampa Heights Greenprinting Initiative, an initiative to build community in a gentrifying neighborhood. I was primarily hired to find out what changes residents of Tampa Heights desired in their chosen park, observe the Greenprinting process, and write a report that could be used in future initiatives.

Due to my Anthropological training, I paid attention to the wider context associated with this project. I paid as much attention to who was not there as I did to who was there. The applied nature of my program enabled me to not only document the socio-economic factors …

Investigating Second Seminole War Sites In Florida: Identification Through Limited Testing, Christine Bell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the results of limited testing at the Fort Dade (1836-1842) and Hope Homestead (1842-ca. 1900) archaeological sites to establish a method for quickly identifying threatened sites with minimal disturbance to surrounding areas. Artifact analysis, pattern recognition, and comparison with similar known sites are key elements. Pedestrian survey, metal detection, posthole and shovel testing, and test excavation are tools used to accomplish this. Artifact analysis is used to establish date ranges for the sites, as well as the material variation between military and homestead occupations. Artifacts used for analysis include glass, ceramics, nails, arms and personal items. Quantitative …

African American Women With Type 2 Diabetes: Understanding Self-Management, F Bridgett Rahim-Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prescribed self-management behaviors have been found to be important factors affecting the rates of morbidity and mortality in multiple medical conditions including chronic diseases such as diabetes, a condition that disproportionately affects high health risk populations such as African Americans.

This study focused on understanding health behaviors, beliefs, and associated factors such as support systems and access to care that played a role in diabetes self-management and glucose control. The study also explored diabetes self-management education and its role in diabetes self-management. The research conducted in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties in Florida, included twenty-five African American women between the ages …

Globalization, Ecotourism, And Development In The Monte Verde Zone, Costa Rica, Edgar Allan Amador

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ecotourism has been promoted globally as a model for sustainable development because it simultaneously benefits the environment and the residents of the given destination. However, many conservationists have questioned the long term sustainability of ecotourism as it is difficult to mitigate the impact of even low levels of tourism on a particular ecosystem. Further, social scientists including anthropologists have similarly questioned whether most residents of a particular destination actually benefit significantly from the alternative tourism economy.

The Globalization Research Center in cooperation with the Monteverde Institue in the Monte Verde Zone, Costa Rica, is undertaking a longitudinal study -- dubbed …